If you don’t know about Google AdWords, get ready to learn about one of the most powerful tools on the Internet. Google Adwords is the best way of promoting your business and your site to the largest community of Internet users in the world, the users of Google?s search engine and Google’s search partners. There is no greater opportunity on the Internet to attract and hold traffic to your site through paid advertising. But it you are not firmly grounded in the principles of what Adwords is and how Adwords works, you won’t get the results you need, and you may even waste your advertising budget.

Before you begin creating ads for your Google Adwords account, you first need to get inside your potential customers’ heads. You need to know what they are searching for. You need to know what they need to know.

You still start with keywords before you use Adwords. Look at the keywords you have on your website right now. Use WordTracker to find additional options and long-tail keywords that place your site in a unique niche. Make the list of keywords as long as you can. Later, as you narrow down your list of keywords, you will find a few high-performing gems that are perfectly matched to your content. Right now, just get all the keywords you can. The match between keyword and content that bumps up high Click Thru Rates (CTR) and conversion rates comes in Step #2.

Don’t try to use all your keywords all at once. After you set up your Adwords account, Step #2 is to begin bringing a manageable list of search terms from your comprehensive list of keywords into your campaign. Create that first ad from the most promising keywords. Write just one more ad with the same keywords but different ad copy to see what really encourages your CTR. Making the ads slightly different helps you establish which wording gets you more traffic for your money. You will repeat this process over and over again as your AdWords campaign matures. You will find small changes in wording, punctuation, and capitalization that bring in incremental improvement?and sometimes dramatic improvement?in your click thrus and conversions.

Don’t spend all your advertising budget up front. Be sure you set your budget low until you know which ads and which keywords work best for you. In some niches, $100 a week on Adwords can create a huge impact on site traffic. In other niches, you may need to spend a lot more. But whether you spend a little or a lot, make sure you check your return on investment. Adwords allows you to do this by setting a performance goal, such as units sold. This tool allows you to determine whether your Adwords campaign has earned your investment back, and by how much.

Always aim to make at least 50% return on your investment. A 50% return will ensure a profitable campaign that allows you to fund expansion of your site and gives you some profits to pocket. Paying attention to CTR and conversion rates makes it possible for you to grow your site from the sales you make with Adwords.

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